Posted by Michael Hartzell
True story of how restaurant marketing success happens when you least expect it appear as if it were magic marketing.
Twenty years ago today.
Table to table, family to family I walked through the dining room.
The split personality loves this aspect of the dining room cruise.
- The things. Are they as expected?
- The people. Are they in happy mode, more than satisfied and want for nothing?
To test the second, it is necessary to capture a glance, a moment and maybe even a few words need to be exchanged. Those words can’t be canned. They must be sincere. The body language must scream “I care”.
Table by table I walk the dining room cruise. It was twenty years ago today.
Since the restaurant as still in the “slow sales” stage, every guest at that moment were the most important people in the world to me. Each and every restaurant guest was also the most important person to my staff and I constantly reminded them. “I am taking the money they give me and then paying you. You are paid by the person you serve.”
It was twenty years ago. There was a very snail slow computer in the office. There were no fancy cash registers. No social media and no Internet. The big screen TV in the corner was not yet purchased (would do so the next month at Sears on a credit card).
I was very proud of my new staff. They rocked. They gave the best they had as I did the dining room cruise. Table to table. First the people… happiness intact? Then the things, the food, the clean, making sure there were no surprises.
Then the surprise came:
I was stopped with a touch on the arm from the back and a question: “Are you the manager?”
Me: “Yes and the owner and more. What can I do for you?”
“My name is Dale and I wanted to stop you to let you know how impressed I am by you and your staff.”
In my surprise, I was speechless for a few seconds before the response: “Why thank you. I am so glad you are happy.”
Dale goes on: “I am the manager of the local Sears store and wondered if we could have our annual staff event at your restaurant?”
Speechless again for a moment. This is unexpected and then said: “Of course! We would happy to serve you. How many people are you thinking?”
“We expect that by the time the families attend with the staff there would be about 250 people.”
“Oh?” I look around at the seating for about 140 people in the dining room.
I did not hesitate with my response: “Sure. I am very confident that we will be able to figure out a way to make every one of your staff members happy.”
Dale was very happy. He must have aleady been thinking about this: “Great!” with a big smile.
I had to be honest: “We only seat 140 at one time though.”
“Oh” He was thinking first about finding a place that he trusted for the staff and not as concerned about the details.
My mind was going at top speed now: “Would you be willing to create an event which extended over 2 or 3 hours and allow the families to come at their own convenience? Or possibly hand out two separate invitations which alternated the time?”
He said "yes" and was relieved at my quick thinking.
He then says: “This sounds great. How much will it cost?”
Now comes the good part. The puzzle that you must ask yourself.
- Why did he NOT ask first “How much will it cost?”
- How did I ever make it happen and stay open?
- He already saw the passion and teamwork in action. He wanted a fair price but more important he wanted to look great to his staff. He took the responsibility to be sure his staff was taken care of special and saw that same interest in my team.
- We closed the restaurant that night at 5pm and dedicated the whole business to taking care of the staff at Sears.
Here is where you need to separate the accountants from the marketers: Knowing you have 250 people on their way, what is your objective as a restaurateur?
My objective was to get 250 people to love the restaurant. Profit was not at the top of my mind. In order to do this, the restaurant team had to show commitment and caring first. Every person was a potential long term Ambassador (See 10 Magic Marketing Tips)
The plan included: Overstaff, over deliver and ensure every person were treated as if they were “friend, family or royalty”. This mind set is right out of Jay Conrad Levinson’s book “Guerrilla Marketing” and applies today more than ever.
While it was great to have the new business, the priority was not to make immediate windfall profit from the unexpected event. The priority was to turn the event into a marketing opportunity and gain new friends.
The restaurant was packed full for several hours. We greeted everyone who was not with Sears with a very, very generous offer to visit again (on me). We did "close" after all and the newly purchased restaurant did have a few who were interested.
Thinking back to that moment in time brings a tear to my eye. I was very fortunate and blessed to have great people on the team and without them the restaurant would break.
Dale was appreciative and each year brought back his staff to have the annual event
Every week I would go shopping at Sears. I would find, tools, devices, electronics, etc. to add to my collection. Of course I would show appreciation, shake hands and learn names along the way.
The result was:
- Dale took care of his staff.
- Dale and I stayed connected during my time in the area and before he retired, we were able to collaborate and help each. In my eyes, Dale is a LinchPin that Seth Godin talks about in his book "LinchPin".
- The restaurant made 250 new friends who returned for many years.
When does restaurant marketing happen? It might be by mail, social media, phone, TV, radio, the Internet. I have done them all. No restaurant marketing beats the eye to eye contact, the personal invitation, and especially the excellence you show each day in the operation.
Execution is restaurant marketing. When it happens, be there, be available and be open to the possibilities.
those happy people who share the story before and after their event can be your restaurant marketing ambassadors. They do it for free. Be sure to show your appreciation.
Your turn. Do the restaurant dining room cruise. You never know who is watching. (I do)
10 Magic Marketing Tips eBook.
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Posted by Michael Hartzell
How long has your restaurant menu been in place? How in touch are you? Is your restaurant menu old and tired? Does it meet the real need of those who will visit?
Test: Crazy and wild restaurant marketing idea.
Visit a local restaurant and simply order something without a menu. You must have a favorite item. It is not as if food is a strange new thing. Instead of living within a box, think about what type of flavors you would like to have floating around in your mouth.
"I would like a corn fed beef prime rib with a baked potato and corn on the cob. Since I don't eat wheat, I would like a gluten free muffin or bread."
This, of course, should be so very easy for any restaurant worth its salt to create. If the server responds: "I am sorry, we don't serve corn on the cob, we don't have corn fed beef nor do we have gluten free bread..." you can simply leave.
A restaurant menu can box the imagination and true desires, and can be limiting. Of course a good menu will broaden the imagination and make a person curious. If the menu is simply a list of food products, why not toss them out?
Why not tell everyone who comes into your restaurant for one week: "There are no menus." Order what you like. Create a 'one-price-fits-all' lunch and dinner promotion for the week.
After one week, what do you suppose would be the most popular items ordered? Would your restaurant survive? Would your guests be dumbfounded and amazed? What is it that people are really thinking about your menu? Would they ask for no mayo? More potatoes? How about portions? Are portions important? What types of questions would they ask?
Maybe, just maybe the reason they look at the menu for so long is not because it is so difficult to make a decision, maybe they just can't find something that matches what their flavor buds are crying out for.
The menu better inspire the imagination beyond the ordinary. Remove the menu for a week. Be ready to scramble for the unusual.
When I come to your restaurant, my first question is: "What is the most favorite item that cause people to exclaim 'fantastic'?" Often times the server can't answer. This is sad.
You will call the week with no menu: Anything Goes Menu. One price for your most favorite dish. You name it, we make it.
That just might be newsworthy, don't you think?
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Posted by Michael Hartzell
Wiener's Circle restaurant has turned it around because they include the five essentials to business success. Primarily they are unbelievable and the leader drags the business behind them vs. the other way around.
What it takes to turn a business around may be unconventional and many times it might be more than you are willing to do. If you are worried about staying conventional more than about building business success, then don't be surprised when your competition passes you by. At least you will feel better while not making a better profit knowing that you stuck to your standards and conventional thinking. When you come to an obstacle, what do you risk to solve it?
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Posted by Michael Hartzell
Then connect with John and tell him you just bought his book and ask him a really, really hard question.
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Posted by Michael Hartzell
Restaurant marketing ideas are a dime a dozen. More so since you can Google "restaurant marketing ideas" and there is no end to the number of ideas to promote a restaurant. Magazines, websites, consultants, next door neighbors, reputation management software, Point of Sale (POS) Software, advertisers and of course the food suppliers are all very opinionated and will show you data about what is hot on the market and offer your next big idea for the future.
Even my recent article on Inside Hospitality Blog shows how you can use free Google tools to know more about what people are searching for and hopefully gain the ability to be more effective.
STOP. Stop looking and listening for ideas from every tom, dick, and harry.
There has never been a substitute for one-on-one, eye-to-eye questions to those who are emotionally engaged. I am speaking of those who are so emotionally engaged they either tell people NOT to visit your restaurant or go out of their way to recommend your restaurant.
Here is a question:
- How do you separate the people with an agenda from those who are sharing serious and honest opinions?
- What should you do when a person speaks kindly about your operation or gives it a big thumbs down?
- How do you connect with people who are basically anonymous?
If people are dining at your restaurant and they are strangers? Fix this. If they leave strangers? Then you have failed. Every person dining in your place can't be just a face. They are people who have the need of support in other areas of their life. For example, celebrations, fundraisers, meetings, volunteering, school participation, impress the boss, or impress the in-laws. The list is deep for reasons to gather a group of people at a place to dine together.
In reality, how can you connect?
Everyone has an address: InfoUSA or American Clearinghouse have database. Restaurant Marketing with a database.
Everyone has an email address: How do you learn about it? Contests, drawings, memberships, ask for it, birthday club, chamber of commerce, newspapers, etc. are potential resources. Here is the best list of Email management services on the planet.
Everyone has a cell phone: Texting is one option and Slydial is another. Slydial you can read about in 10 Magic Marketing Tips free ebook. There are companies that also offer texting on the best list of Email management services on the planet.
OR here is a list of online resources you can send text messages free from the Internet. You need mobile numbers of course.
If text language is confusing, here is a website that will translate your text into real English. Lingo2Word. Netlingo is another resource to translate your text messages.
Not everyone uses Social Media: The number participating is high and it is growing but now you will include in each contact: "How would you like me to invite you to return for lunch and dinner? What is your preferred way for me to reach you?"
The restaurant marketing plan that uses social media to broadcast the same way as using a mail list, email list, etc. becomes an imperfect plan. The density of those using social media may be growing but the reality is that everyone has a mailbox, an email address and a cell phone they use on a regular basis. The social media tools are not used consistently across the board... yet. It is growing. There is hype around the new style of communication. How do you reach out to the rest?
Every customer or potential customer is communicating in multiple ways. It is up to you to know how, when and why.
Your biggest resource is your customers and potential customers. Now... translate "customers" into the word "guests" and you have it down. It may be time to start asking your current guests and potential guests each day by the dozens "What sounds good today?" or "What will satisfy your palate?" or one I like to say: "Close your eyes and tell me what flavor you are imagining and let me know what it is."
There are resources to learn about and reach out to your customers on PushButtonTechTools that will help fill in the gaps and bring you into the 21st Century. That is your next stop if you want to know more. PushButtonTechTools will save you dozens of hours of research and get you up to speed with the latest technology.
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Posted by Michael Hartzell
My blog from yesterday about Salty's Seafood Restaurant in Redondo Beach already shows up in the GuestPulse reputation management system. There will not be a need for restaurant marketing but I am hoping the reputation management software will certainly show more ebb and flow from the buzz.
See the green smiley face? I clicked on the face to give it a positive mark. This means I can go back later and look at specific types of happy, neutral or sad faces. This morning my email inbox had a notification from GuestPulse about the latest finds. This is handy and I won't have to search as the information comes to me directly.
The title is very important as it becomes a way for the search engines and GuestPulse to pick up the information more easily.
He
re is the score card inside the GuestPulse reputation management system. This is the starting point for mentions.
As I blog, mention, comment and shine the light on Salty's in Redondo, I will keep a tally.
One of the fascinating things about many of the different monitoring tools is that they may not say there was any action until someone actually clicks on it.
Just because a door is built, is it really a door if no one goes through it? Or does it need to be used as intended? Which defines it - the name and intent or the actual use? Which provides proof?
The header tabs in GuestPulse are very simple to monitor the process. You can see all of this if you signed up for a free 30 day account but to save you 20 seconds of trouble, here you are:
Oh? You see the tab "competitors"? Yep. I won't be using it here. It does have the ability to keep tabs on every one of your competitors.
This is very interesting because if someone makes a bad remark online about a competitor I would hope that YOU would then reach out to them and make a special invitation. You could send them a card instantly by direct mail and make a unique personal invitation which is one of the five essentials to business success. Would that not catch them at a perfect opportunity?
There are about 9,055 inbound links to Salty's Seafood Restaurant Website according to my Hubspot software. (Hubspot software lets me see competitors infomation.) The system does not update each and every day but over time will track the inbound links. You can check your website at www.websitegrader.com.
TwitterGrader for Salty's at Redondo Beach shows a score of 95.5. That is pretty good and to improve the score without being on the inside will be a challenge.
Why did I have to pick a restaurant that has such a good reputation? Where the management takes such high pride in their business? I could have picked a restaurant that was easier but then I may have lied about "great service". This is much more fun and while it will be a challenge, never backed away from a challenge yet.
FacebookGrader.com works from inside Facebook and connects via the technology. I will not abe able to know or use the FacebookGrader from the outside. (Shame on me that I forgot this. Two demerits.)
Alexa rank is at 699,335. As you can see the sites linking in does not match the information I have on Hubspot. In fact, there does not seem to be the very same measurement for any type of analytic. If restaurants all had different measuring cups and scales, and the world all had calculators that gave different results, it would be chaos.
We have mentions, Grader, Twitter Grade, Alexa Rank.
Now its time to shine the light on Salty's at Redondo Beach. There is a question in my mind about just what keywords I will want to use. They are already on the front page for Seafood Restaurant. "Waterfront Restaurant Seattle" is also a term that has them on the first page of Google. "View Restaurant" has them on the first page. I will ponder on this just a bit.
Just to be sure I don't get off on tangents, here is the keywords from Google keyword Tool: (First is global search, then local search in US) It appears (just for Google) there are 2,400 hundred searches last month for waterfront restaurants seattle. If a restaurant on the waterfront was dominant on the first page of search engines, then you would think that how many could be lured in? 10%? If 240 more parties came into the business at $100 a party, that would be about $240,000 a year in more business.
This is thinking too big? Never. I alwasy like to think big.
Thinking too small? Sorry. It is just one term "waterfront restaurants Seattle".
Can social media make a difference to those people who are already searching.
This is the first step. GuestPulse will make it a lot easier
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Posted by Michael Hartzell
This is not about restaurant marketing and yet in every way it applies. GuestPulse is a system to help a restaurant owner or manager keep tabs of their online reputation with a few clicks of a button vs. deep search. I have used it for about 4 days now and I am sold. (Though I am currently in the free trial stage)
Take a look at a recent example of how social media is impacting a business. There are two screen captures above. The Twitter account with fewer followers is the official BP verified account. Then why is there over 145,000 followers of the BPGlobalPR and only 12,907 followers for the official BP Twitter account.
How long would it take you to know if I become a raving fan or a mean groupie online? In the old days, there would be prank phone calls and bad junk mail you could send to a business for those who wanted to act out their anger. Now the freedom of expression makes everyone a publisher.
The official BP twitter account has twice the number of tweets vs. the other fake account. How do you combat the bad PR?
I will continue my adventure as a "biggest fan" of Salty's Seafood Restaurant in Redondo Beach. No need to guard the reputation because of my activities but I hope you look around and wonder:
- What happens when an ex employee gets angry? How will you know if they are spreading dirt via the social media?
- How is the competition using the social media and opinion websites to make themselves look better than you?
- How do you know who to reach out to and make an invitation to return?
Imagine the name of your restaurant in place of BP on the Twitter account above. What would you do?
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Posted by Michael Hartzell
Not much of a headline if you ask me. Restaurant Marketing Coach certainly does not pop my name on the Google #1. You will find RestaurantWorx though and for good reason.
This step is one of the simplest of them all. Send an email to Posterous from your email address and this automatically sets up a blog (as long as you do not have a Posterous blog set up already).
This may be hard to grasp so I will repeat it a little louder.
If blogging is part of your restaurant marketing plan (and why wouldn't it be?) you can create a blog on Posterous by simply sending an email to post@posterous.com.
Once you have done that, you are now a blogger. Posterous will send you an email to confirm they received your first post.
This is what I did early this morning for Salty's Seafood Restaurant in South Seattle (Redondo Beach). Since I already have multiple Posterous blogs, I simply added this one to the others. It will be interesting to see if adding to an existing account makes a difference.
The Posterous account is already set up to shoot every blog post to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Flickr, Youtube, Viddler, and many more.
For the moment, I will use Posterous blog. With an email I will send a blog post, audio, video, photos to Posterous which will also be distributed automatically to the other social media sites of choice.
Takeaway:
Posterous. Easy set up. Set up social media accounts and tell Posterous to forward blogs to them automatically. (I have done this already.)
Note:
New blogs (which this is) takes time to get "noticed" by Google. No worries. It is still connected to the social media which is the primary purpose. Have a tool to send a message to one place and by doing so, create a restaurant marketing message on a larger scale.
By the way, did I mention that this is free?
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Posted by Michael Hartzell
Sure, I understand that no one is searching for Salty's Restaurant Marketing. That is not the point here. This is to show you the speed at which Google is tracking results now and posting them. Google Caffiene? Whew.
No wonder that they are talking about taking page speed load time into consideration. The ability to post something in search results in less than an hour is very remarkable versus the old days.
I did give it a tweet at @coachrestaurant and saved it under a delicious bookmark so I could find it later. It could be that both of these online tools had something to do with it.
Take away: Google is fast. Especially when you use social media and bookmarking tools. Sure, this website has a fair Alexa Rank and gets a little traffic. Every little bit helps.
I wonder what will show up in the GuestPulse report. So far the system is so easy I learned it in under 20 minutes. Very fast to use.
Tomorrow:
Create a base number for past mentions, links and grades for the measures of success. I will use GuestPulse and Hubspot Grader tools to do this.
Off to the RACES again. Really Awesome Challenges Everybody Sees.
I am hungry for Salmon. I have to see when I will be visiting Salty's Seafood Grill in Redondo Beach again.
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Posted by Michael Hartzell
One of my favorite restaurants is at Salty's Seafood Grill Restaurant in Redondo Beach. (Des Moines, Washington). I am also a fan of GuestPulse and Gary Tripp of Inside Hospitality (Who is also recommended by Jeffrey Summers from RestaurantWorx. I listen to Jeffrey and you can too at Hospitality101Radio.)
If you can stay with me for a moment because this is not a plug. (Even though I just plugged Salty's Restaurant, GuestPulse AND RestaurantWorx.)
Since I no longer own a restaurant, I miss some of the good times when I can play around and test the fun stuff. I can't resist any longer, I am now testing GuestPulse personally.
This will be a personal challenge as I use my expertise in Inbound Marketing, restaurant marketing, guerrilla marketing, magic marketing and tricks up my sleeve. I will be using Twitter, Facebook, Stumble, Blogging and commenting on Blogs. The bag of magic marketing is pretty deep and I will be pulling out all the tricks of the trade. Rather than wait for the news about Salty's Restaurant, I will be using social media tools to create a buzz. Well, at least a mini-buzz. After all, I am but one person.
This is not a restaurant marketing plan, it is but an outline. A simpler format to share.
The purpose:
- Shine on Salty's Restaurant.
- Create more traffic; Get more eyeballs; Get more clicks to Salty's in Redondo Beach. Shine the benefits of GuestPulse.
- Prove the value of Social Media.
- Show the benefits of a tools like GuestPulse from Inside Hospitality.
- Show how someone brand new to GuestPulse can get up and running quickly to maximize its use.
- Give a real example to those restaurant owners and managers in need of how to get it done.
- Help you "get it" as you watch the good and bad, the success and failure first hand.
- Show how to get it done in less time and have fun along the way.
- Make a point that every business is in danger of an excessive fan.
How:
- Two hours a week (15 minutes at a time)
- - Just about the same pattern as found in a restaurant.
- Blogging about it here does not count.
- Inbound Marketing, Social Media, Restaurant Marketing Savvy, Magic Marketing.
- Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogs, Stumbleupon, and other Bookmarking sites.
- A few tricks I know -- Don't worry, you will find them out.
- "Free" - (no cash)
Why:
- Nuts (That's me)
- To empower those in need to improve business and are willing.
- To take a stand and make a point. (See the warning below)
- To inspire you to take action (15 minutes at a time)
- To remove risk for those who have low cash and no time to do R&D.
What's in it for me:
- Satisfaction.
- This has to be pure otherwise the purpose will get twisted. The principle of making decisions based on People, Purpose, Profit must be included with the first 2 P's the priority. Profit is a symptom. If I can help you, Salty's who will pay it forward, Gary at GuestPulse, etc., then that is my satisfaction. Sometimes that is all that is needed. Knowing that you are doing the right thing.
- This is my candy and one of my top five passions: All things marketing. Thus I get to enjoy my candy and share both the good and bad.
- Call it a "Internet Reality Show" if you want.
What you Get:
- Low risk trial. Watch the success and failure and apply the results to your operation.
- Opportunity to ask specific questions via blog.
Measures of Success:
- Website Grader
- Facebook Grader
- Twitter Grader
- Alexa Rank
- Backlinks to Salty's Website
- Buzz on Internet (via GuestPulse)
Barriers:
- Brand new to GuestPulse
- Not employed by Salty's and no access to any accounts
- Two Hours a week.
- Budget is zero. (ok I might spend $10)
What I won't do:
- Promote seafood restaurant competitors of Salty's for 90 days.
- Say derogatory things about competitors.
- Share the negative comments from Social Media about Salty's.
- Share any private responses to comments I become aware of.
This is not going to be a place to be a voyeour of. Go back to the "purpose" as a reminder.
Will Google Alert get it faster and better than Guest Pulse?
I should mention: Even if it does, Google services stop at the notice where GuestPulse organizes, shows graphs, and allows searching for specific terms within the comments.
Can GuestPulse prove to have the inside scoop better than SocialOomph for Twitter alerts?
Again, GuestPulse is more than a "notification service" but it will be fun to watch.
Will Salty's Seafood Grill Restaurant team appreciate my odd sense of commitment and appreciation?
I hope so. How will they respond to the unexpected comments that will crop up? That is to be seen and their responses will remain private.
Is Social Media the Answer?
This is not really about social media though it will be a major tool in the arsenal. If you subscribe to the blog and follow along, you will understand the five W's as I share. If there are questions or comments? The blog will be a great place to get interaction going. I will answer every comment.
Can an outsider be an influence?
Is it possible for one crazy fan to improve the ranking and visibility of a restaurant business. I say it is. If it can be done for the good? THEN BE WARNED THAT IT CAN BE DONE FOR THE BAD.
If a person can influence and move the bar online of a restaurant business to the good having knowledge with a tool like GuestPulse? Would this help you make better decisions about your business?
This is NUTS - It Doesn't Matter!
There will be people who will say I am nuts. "Don't give it away". If everyone knows, then you will have competition. Nope. Even after I show the results, few will take action. Most will sit and think and wonder how and why. This is nothing new to me. It takes about six months to a year for people to catch up and by then I have moved on.
Won't the Competition Use This?
Will Salty's Restaurant have competition as others learn from this and copy cat the processes to get the results? You would think so but the answer is NO. Very few will follow along. It is strange but true. Too little time, energy, belief or maybe they just don't care enough. I will not be helping any other Seafood restaurants in the vicinity during the next 90 days. My focus is exclusive to Salty's. After that? We shall see.
Your Prediction?
What do you think is going to happen? Get your crystal ball out. Put your forecast in the comment below. How important is Social Media and the Internet? Can it help a business? (I know it can and will show you how)
Off to the RACES. Really Awesome Challenges Everyone Sees.
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